In The Dark

47 - August 26th (Continued)

"Melanie, did you think we were giving you to Otis so he could kill you?" Geri gasped, watching in horror as Melanie nodded, still keeping her head down to avoid looking at her. "Darling, no!" Geri added quickly. "We don't want him anywhere near you."

"You were going to watch," Melanie whimpered accusingly, glaring up at Geri.

"Holy shit," she gasped. "I'm so sorry, Melanie. That's not what I meant. We were watching you in the courtroom, that's all."

Melanie's eyes began to slide closed and her gaze dropped to the floor in a blank stare, the exertion of her fight against them having taken a toll on her. Her body slowly began falling forward and her arms relaxed and lowered away from her chest. Her breathing was becoming laboured and she didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone around her. AJ pulled her back against him and tried to get her attention as she began to lose consciousness.

Sandra quickly pulled Melanie's arm toward her, poking around for a vein with her finger before wiping the skin with antiseptic. Melanie groaned and attempted to pull her arm away, but Geri quickly knelt next to Sandra and held Melanie's elbow and wrist to keep her arm still while Lucy held Melanie's right arm out of the way to keep her from stopping Sandra from inserting the IV.

"No!" Melanie pleaded weakly as she struggled to fight back one last time. She shook her head despondently, unable to fight anymore but still not willing to give in. Her fear escalated once again as she watched Sandra positioning the needle against her skin. She breathed in panicked gasps and tried to pull away.

"I'm not putting you to sleep," Sandra assured her, meeting Melanie's eye. "You're not going to see things, you're not going to feel sick, Otis is not coming to get you, and you're absolutely not going to die. This is just to replace the fluids you've lost."

Melanie tried to push herself back up with her legs, but she had no strength left. She panted and scanned the room, desperately looking for some way to get herself out of her situation. Her head fell back against AJ's shoulder and she panted as she tried to keep from passing out. She struggled to sit back up and shook her head, glancing up at the IV drip helplessly.

"Nice and quick. Just a tiny, little sting here," Sandra explained as she slid the needle and the tube into Melanie's vein, removed the needle, and taped the tube to Melanie's skin. "See, that wasn't so bad."

"I don't want to die," Melanie sobbed into her knees.

"We're not going to let you die," Sandra assured her sympathetically. "That's why we're giving you the fluids. You're going to start feeling so much better soon." Melanie shook her head, sobbing harder as she tried to pull her arms away from Geri and Lucy. Both women let go, allowing Melanie to hug her knees while still watching her closely to make sure she wasn't going to pull the IV out.

They all sat in silence watching as Melanie slowly began to regain some colour and gain more strength, She curled herself into a protective ball, not wanting to acknowledge anyone in the room with her.

After a while, Melanie looked up at the IV drip and around at the room with confusion, lifting her hand to look at the IV. Lucy quickly took Melanie's right hand, not wanting her to have a chance to pull the tube out. Melanie looked tiredly at Lucy before dropping her head and letting her left hand fall to her side.

"Are you starting to feel better?" Geri asked, pressing the back of her hand against Melanie's cheeks and forehead. Melanie shrugged.

"Don't see them," she replied quietly, not meeting her eye.

"Who?" Geri asked curiously. Melanie looked intensely at Geri, then sighed and dropped her gaze. Geri watched Melanie closely, wracking her brain for some context to her statement. "The red shadows?" Geri asked finally. Melanie nodded.

Geri's shoulders drooped and she looked at the IV port in Melanie's hand. "Sandra told you we weren't going to do that to you," she sighed sadly, feeling defeated and horrible for what they had unknowingly just put her through.

"Red shadows?" Mel inquired, looking at Geri questioningly.

"From the drugs Otis used to give Melanie," Geri responded tiredly.

They all sat in silence, all coming to the same realization as Geri. No matter how much they tried to convince Melanie they weren't going to hurt her, she still believed they had negative intentions.

"Surely after all this time we've proven you can trust us?" Geri queried. Melanie looked up at her, closely examining Geri's expression and body language. She shrugged, her chin wobbling as she dropped her gaze.

"I don't know," Melanie whimpered tiredly.

"That's a difficult thing to ask," Lucy stated, looking at Melanie seriously. "You can take as long as you need to make that decision. It's going to take time and experiences like this for you to fully make up your mind about that."

Melanie looked at Lucy questioningly, the internal struggle she was going through evident on her face. She inhaled deeply and stared fearfully at the tube protruding from her arm.

"Please, take it out," she begged, looking desperately at Sandra.

"Soon, sweetheart," Sandra responded softly. "We'll give it an hour just to get you feeling better, all right?" Melanie dropped her head and cried, still cringing against AJ's touch as he squeezed her tightly from behind.